Brazilian Dams / key documents

Impasses and Controversies of Hydroelectricity

Article by Célio Bermann in the journal of the Institute for Advanced Studies of the University of São Paulo

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Tenotã–mõ Executive Summary

Oswaldo Sevá

Alerts regarding the consequences of hydroelectric projects planned for the Xingu River, Brazilian Amazon

Publication of the panel of experts on the Xingu hydroelectric complex, May 2005

Executive Summary

1. Summary of the plans for hydroelectric dams on the Xingu River

An obsession of global engineering is the fixed idea to dam all rivers that have significant hydroelectric potential. Within this vision, rivers are no longer viewed as living flows of water, bio–chemical media which maintain life in equilibrium, including the lives of riverbank dwellers and migratory animals. Instead, rivers are examined using calculators, as if they only existed to be blocked by a giant wall to have their energy exploited.

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Environmental Impacts of Tucuruí Dam

Philip M. Fearnside (2001) "Environmental Impacts of Brazil’s Tucuruí Dam: Unlearned Lessons for Hydroelectric Development in Amazonia," Environmental Management 27:3.

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A Conexão Hidrelétricas e Alumínio

Glenn Switkes, International Rivers

Close to half of all energy consumed by the aluminum industry comes from hydroelectric dams, and the industry believes that this percentage will increase in the coming years. The size of this increase will depend both on the industry's assimilation of social and environmental costs created by the dams in cost-benefit calculations, and on a better comprehension of the effects of hydroelect